Acid carboy

ABSTRACT

An acid carboy consisting of a generally cylindrical stainless steel tank having elastomeric skirts at the ends thereof characterized by a novel cross-sectional configuration whereby the carboy can be handled in a variety of ways without substantial damage.

United States Patent 1 [111 3,747,799 Atkinson [4 July 24, 1973 [54]ACID CARBOY 3,322,300 5/1967 Cornelius 220/69 X 3,348,722 10/1967Trevarrow, Jr. 220/69 X [751 Invent Jerry Aims", waukesha 3,349,94010/1967 Cornelius......... 220/69 ux 3 Assign: n Products Corporation,3,616,032 10/1971 Kuglcr 220/69 UX Waukesha, Wis. PrimaryExaminer-HerbertF. Ross [22] Ffled' 1971 Assistant Examiner-James R.Garrett [21] Ap 1. No.: 125,535 Attorney-Dawson, Tilton, Fallon & Lunmus P g y [52] US. Cl. 220/69, 220/85 K [57] ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl 865d7/42 [58] Field of Search 220/66 69,85 K a generally cyl'ndr'calstainless steel tank having elastomeric skirts at the ends I 56]References Cited thereof characterized by a novel cross-sectionalconfiguration whereby the carboy can be handled in a variety UNITED T EPATENTS of ways without substantial damage. 1,985,558 12/1934 Aexan er220/69 2,847,144 8/1958 Cornelius 220/69 1 Claim, 3 Drawing FiguresPATEN-TEU JUL 2 4 i973 ACID CARBOY BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION The instant invention has to do with carboys of substantialsize of the order of 7 gallons or more. Conventional sizes are 8%, and15 gallons, and it will be appreciated that a IS-gallon tank when filledwill weigh upwards of 160 pounds. The handling of such carboys withoutdamage, so as to make them readily reusable, has constituted a problemin the art.

Attempts in smaller liquid containers have been made utilizingelastomeric skirts, as exemplified by U. S. Pat. No. 3,390,807. Certaindrawbacks inhere in prior art constructions which are avoided in theinstant invention.

According to the instant invention, skirts are provided of elastomericmaterial at each end of the tank, with the skirts each having anintegral portion immediately adjacent the container end which projectsradially outward from the head at least about /a of an inch, with theskirt itself being solid whereby the aforesaid portion serves aa uniqueshock-receiving reservoir. The skirt configuration further not onlyserves as a bumper to keep tanks separate one from another, butconstitutes an advantageous bearing surface on which to roll the carboyit being appreciated that one man could lift such a filled carboy onlywith extreme difficulty.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION The invention is described in the acocmpanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a carboy embodying teachings ofthis invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the carboy of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view such as would be seenalong the sight line 33 applied to FIG. 2.

In the illustration given, and with reference to FIG. 1, the numeraldesignates generally a carboy constructed according to the instantinvention. The carboy 10 is seen to include a generally cylindricalshell 11 closed at its upper end with a head or cover 12, and, at itslower end, with a bottom 13. Although the ends of the carboy 10 aredifferent, they are essentially the same insofar as the elastomericskirts generally designated l4 and are concerned.

The upper skirt 14 is equipped with a plurality of hand holes, as at 16,and an interruption 17 to accommodate pouring of the liquid contents outof a capped opening 18.

The lower skirt 15 is discontinuous at a plurality of points 19 topermit flexure.

For example, I provide three openings or slots 19 each 36 inch widespaced equally 120. aboutthe periphery of the bottom skirt 15. Insomewhat similar fashion I provide three hand holes 16, each four incheswide having a height of about one inch and located about 7/8 inch belowthe upper extremity of the skirt 16. These dimensions can apply over arange of sizes, viz., for both 8%, and 15 gallon nominal sizes, with theexception that in the case of the larger size I provide the handopenings about 1% inches below the top periphery of the skirt 14.

In the fabrication of the inventive carboy, the shell 11 and the ends 12and 13 are fabricated of stainless steel such as type 304, or ifintended for highly corrosive acids, of type 316. The ends have theskirts integrally attached thereto, as by molding, prior to the assemblyinto the configuration seen in FIG. 1. For that purpose, the ends 12 and13 are welded to the ends of the shell 11 along the lines of union 20and 21 respectively.lt will be appreciated that the elastomeric materialconstituting the skirts 14 or 15, as the case may be, have thin webportions as at 22 and 23 respectively, overlying the convex or outwardlydished ends 12 and 13.

Referring now to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the skirt 14 (which istypical also of the major portion of the periphery of skirt 15) is ofsolid as contrasted to hollow construction. The thickness of the skirts14 or 15 is of the order of one inch at their outer extremities, withthe interior wall 24 being angled downwardly and radially inwardly at anangle of about 10 to the vertical. The outer wall of the skirt 14 isgenerally vertical and flush with the outer wall of the shell 11.

The skirts l4 and 15 are each characterized by having an integralportion 26 (in the case of the skirt 14) which is immediatley adjacentthe end cover or head 12 in the case of the upper end of the carboy 10which projects radially outwardly from the head at least about A; inch.In the illustration given, this takes the form of a gradually curved ribdeveloped by radii extending from the points 27, 28, and 29. Forexample, with respect to the 8% gallon carboy, these radii are 5/16inch, while in the 15 gallon size these radii are 56.

An identical arrangement of a. projecting integral portion existsrelative to the lower :skirt 15 as at 30 (see FIG. 1). 4

It will be seen that the integral portion 26 or 30, as the case may be,is provided a suitable distance spaced from the line of union 20 or 21,as the case may be. This insures that the welding operation to completethe carboy does not damage the elastomeric material of which the skirtsl4 and 15 are constructed. Also, it will be noted that the ends 12 and13 are dished or equipped with dips as at 31 and 32 respectively, whichdevelop a substantial reservoir of elastomeric material at the very baseof the skirt so as to absorb compressive shocks as would be applied in adirection designated by the arrow 33 (see FIG. 3). Also, for theoperation where the carboy is rolled along a surface, the carboy restson the projections or ribs26 and 30, and these are backed up, in effect,by the ends 12 and 13 so as to minimize any disadvantageous deformation.

I Claim:

l. A carboy comprising a generally cylindrical shell having generallyoutwardly convex integral end closures, a substantially perimetric solidelastomeric skirt attached to each end closure, said skirt havinganintegral circumferentially extending rib portion immediately adjacentits associated end closure which projects radially outward from said endclosure at least oneeighth inch, said end closure being equipped with acircumferential inward extending recess aligned with said projection toprovide a substantial amount of elastomeric material in said ribportion. for absorbing compressive shocks.

I I t I! t

1. A carboy comprising a generally cylindrical shell having generallyoutwardly convex integral end closures, a substantially perimetric solidelastomeric skirt attached to each end closure, said skirt having anintegral circumferentially extending rib portion immediately adjacentits associated end closure which projects radially outward from said endclosure at least oneeighth inch, said end closure being equipped with acircumferential inward extending recess aligned with said projection toprovide a substantial amount of elastomeric material in said rib portionfor absorbing compressive shocks.